Carbios (Euronext Growth Paris: ALCRB), a pioneer in the development and industrialization of biological technologies to reinvent the life cycle of plastics and textiles, hosted the world’s first PET Biorecycling Summit from 7 to 8 December 2022 in Paris. The event attracted over 100 international participants from the scientific, academic, and industrial worlds to exchange on the advances in the field of biological recycling, and how to bring these innovations for a circular economy to market.
The two-day conference gathered world-renowned scientists from various academic institutions to share their latest research on PET enzymatic depolymerization. Bertrand Piccard, Initiator and Chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation1, joined as the Keynote Speaker for the last session focused on PET circularity, and praised Carbios’ contribution to reducing plastic pollution. The Summit concludes with a visit of Carbios’ demonstration plant in Clermont-Ferrand today. The demonstration plant was inaugurated in September 2021 and brings Carbios’ technology one step closer to industrialization. Following the demonstration plant’s success, Carbios is on track to build and operate the world’s first industrial-scale enzymatic PET recycling plant (with a processing capacity of 50.000 tons of PET waste per year) in France (Longlaville) by 20252, and to start licensing its technology throughout the world.
Click here for the full program and list of speakers and follow #biorecyclingsummit #carbiosPETsummit on Carbios’ social channels.
- Scientific researchers from 10 countries, including North America, UK, Japan and Germany
- Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse Foundation, as Keynote Speaker
- Speakers from strategic partnerships: L’Oréal, Salomon, and McKinsey
Bertrand Piccard, Serial explorer, psychiatrist and clean technology pioneer, Initiator and Chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation: “Reducing plastic waste is one of the major challenges of our times. Carbios’ technology for the biological recycling of plastics was one of the first innovations labeled “Efficient Solution” by the Solar Impulse Foundation back in 20193. Carbios has my continued support and I commend today’s initiative to gather key stakeholders in the fight to protect the environment.”
Alain Marty, Chief Scientific Officer of Carbios: “At Carbios, our teams have developed a unique enzymatic process that makes it possible to biologically recycle the second most widely used plastic in the world: PET. Unlike mainstream recycling methods, our innovative process makes it possible to recycle all types of waste, even polyester textiles, to be reused in the production of new PET plastics with equivalent quality to virgin ones. This first PET Biorecycling Summit allowed us to explore the scientific advances in the field of enzymatic recycling and to challenge ourselves to go further, faster, with the support of an international network of experts.”
Emmanuel Ladent, Chief Executive Officer of Carbios: “The success of our industrialization model is based on our ability to forge strategic partnerships. Since Carbios’ inception, we have built partnerships in research, business, and finance, as well as consortiums with major brand owners in both the packaging and textile industries. I am honored that so many delegates were present for the first PET Biorecycling Summit, as I am convinced that we can reach a truly circular economy with biological recycling only if academics and industry work hand in hand.”
About Carbios
Established in 2011 by Truffle Capital, Carbios is a green chemistry company, developing biological and innovative processes. Through its unique approach of combining enzymes and plastics, Carbios aims to address new consumer expectations and the challenges of a broad ecological transition by taking up a major challenge of our time: plastic and textile pollution. Carbios deconstructs any type of PET (the dominant polymer in bottles, trays, textiles made of polyester) into its basic components which can then be reused to produce new PET plastics with equivalent quality to virgin ones. This PET innovation, the first of its kind in the world, was recently recognized in a scientific paper published in front cover of the prestigious journal Nature. Carbios successfully started up its demonstration plant in Clermont-Ferrand in 2021. It has now taken another key step towards the industrialization of its process with the construction of a first-of-a-kind unit in partnership with Indorama Ventures.
In 2017, Carbios and L’Oréal co-founded a consortium to contribute to the industrialization of its proprietary recycling technology. Committed to developing innovative solutions for sustainable development, Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo and Suntory Beverage & Food Europe joined this consortium in April 2019. In 2022, Carbios signed an agreement with On, Patagonia, PUMA, and Salomon, to develop solutions promoting the recyclability and circularity of their products.
The Company has also developed an enzymatic biodegradation technology for PLA-based (a bio sourced polymer) single-use plastics. This technology can create a new generation of plastics that are 100% compostable in domestic conditions, integrating enzymes at the heart of the plastic product.
For more information, please visit www.carbios.com/en / Twitter: Carbios LinkedIn: Carbios Instagram: insidecarbios
Carbios (ISIN FR0011648716/ALCRB) is eligible for the PEA-PME, a government program allowing French residents investing in SMEs to benefit from income tax rebates.
Translation is for information purposes only.
In case of discrepancy between the French and the English version of this press release, the English version shall prevail
1 To address sustainability challenges while enabling economic growth, Bertrand Piccard and the Solar Impulse Foundation have identified 1000+ clean and profitable solutions. More details available on the official website: https://solarimpulse.com/foundation
2 Cf. Press release dated 23 February 2022
3 Cf. Press release dated 3 June 2019
